A refrigerator typically includes a number of shelves for the storage of food and beverage containers of many shapes and sizes. As the containers are retrieved, returned and/or rearranged on the shelves, occasional leaks and spilling of food and liquid may occur. Cleaning up after a spill on a crowded refrigerator shelf can be difficult, especially when spilled liquid leaks onto lower shelves.
To contain liquid spills on a refrigerator shelf, it is known to use “picture frame” shelves that include edges wrapped around, attached, or otherwise fitted to a glass plate to form a dam around the edges of the plate for containing spilled liquid. Reference is made, for example to U.S. Pat. No. 5,677,030, which describes a continuous edge trim that wraps around the peripheral edge of a glass shelf and extends above the glass to form a spill-proof dam. The trim piece has a substantially “F” shaped cross-sectional profile, with the glass sliding into the “U” chamber defined by the upper and lower arms. U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,429,433; 5,524,981; and 5,403,084 describe refrigerator shelves having a rim directly molded around the entire perimeter edge of the shelf member. Frame assemblies are also known that include separate upper and lower frame members, with the glass pane sandwiched between the frame members.
The conventional picture frame shelf assemblies have certain disadvantages from a production and/or cost perspective, or in terms of performance. For example, the insert molding (glass encapsulation) processes may depend on shrinkage of the plastic used to fabricate the frame, which requires the edges of the glass plate to be notched for the frame to properly seal the glass. The frames formed from separate frame members require multiple tools to form the frame members.
Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide a spill-proof shelf assembly that is reliable, is not dependent on variances between the glass shelf dimensions and/or shrinkage of the frame members, and is commercially feasible to produce.